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By martinvale, Nov 16 2015 05:19PM

Ever wondered what happens when you hand your Vynalast plastic over to the binmen for recycling? Well, now you can find out thanks to national plastics recycling body Pledge 4 Plastics.

The group has just released an educational video showing the secrete life recycled plastic so people can find out just what happens and where it all goes – and what it all gets turned into.

It shows how it can be turned into chairs, toys, ornaments, number plates and even clothes, giving all your plastic a brand new lease of life.

According to Pledge 4 Plastics, it takes 75 per cent less energy to make a plastic bottle using recycled plastic than it does if you were to use so-called ‘virgin’ materials to do so. What’s more, recycling a tone of plastic bottles means that three-quarters of a tonne of carbon is saved.

You’ll also be helping the local economy if you decide to recycle more of your plastic, since it can cost up to £78 million to dispose of tubs, pots, trays and bottles that have not been left out for recycling.

The group went on to observe that recycling has increased but there is a lot more that can be done for the good of the planet. For example, 36 million bottles are used in the UK daily and 15 million are not recycled each and every day – which equates to approximately 500 bottles used per household each year, with only half actually being recycled.

All types of bottles can be recycled, so make sure the ones in your bathroom as well as in the kitchen make it to the recycling bin.

By martinvale, Nov 3 2015 04:53PM

In a bid to reduce the amount of wasted Darvic plastic and similar products, the roads of Bhutan look set to be lined with waste plastic to curb the use of fossil fuels as part of the Green Road project that it is hoped will cut the amount of bitumen brought in from India by 40 per cent.

According to entrepreneur Rikesh Gurung, the move should also cut the amount of waste that is sent to landfill by between 30 and 40 per cent, Reuters reports.

The 30-year-old built a 150-metre length pilot road in Thimpu, the capital, back in October. He was quoted by the news source as saying: "We will use the plastic waste to build eco-friendly and durable roads in the country. Recycling plastic waste and not burning it is the correct approach to protect the environment."

Mr Gurung went on to predict that the new plastic roads would not need maintenance for a minimum of five years, compared with traditional roads that need yearly repair sometimes thanks to the tempestuous weather in the region.

This follows a report in The Entrepreneur back in July that the Netherlands was also considering investing in plastic pavements and roads made from pre-fabricated strips that would not become potholed or crumble over a period of time.

Benefits of using these strips include being low maintenance, quick construction times, being lightweight and easy to move, and also being temperature resistant. It's also thought that these roads could last for up to three times longer than a traditional asphalt road.

By martinvale, Oct 22 2015 01:47PM

If you're considering ordering Vybak flexible pressed PVC products, it's likely you'll want to know what advantages they can bring. PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is utilised across many applications for a number of reasons.

Here are just some of the benefits of opting for PVC over other materials:

1. Durability

PVC is known for its strength and durability. The plastic is resistant to chemicals, corrosion, shock and abrasion, meaning it can have a workable lifespan of many decades.

2. Flexibility

Flexible pressed PVC can be used for many different purposes, including medical equipment, protective clothing, benchtops, radiation suits, ducting and stationary, among others.

3. Cost-effectiveness

In addition to many technical advantages, PVC is also cost-competitive with other materials. This means businesses can deploy highly flexible PVC products without breaking their budgets.

4. Safety

As a non-toxic and chemically stable material, PVC is completely safe to use. Given its frequent application in medical device manufacture, this feature can be extremely important for delivering effective results.

5. Transparency

PVC can be produced in a transparent form, so that liquids can be easily monitored. Alternatively, the plastic is available in almost any colour you require if necessary.

6. Lightweight

Despite being known for its strength and durability, PVC is also extremely lightweight. This makes it easier to transport, install and handle, while still offering a product that is resistant to many environments.

Would you like to know more about our range of PVC materials? Please contact us today to discuss what Vybak flexible pressed PVC can do for you.

By martinvale, Oct 22 2015 10:09AM

As England deals with the latest 5p plastic bag tax, now is a great time to ponder the usefulness of plastics as you place your next vybak order.

Most plastic bags are made of polythene which harks back to the end of the 19th century, when German scientist Hans von Pechmann discovered the substance.

As it was so flimsy and filmy, it was not used for anything at the time. It took 34 years for the plastic to be rediscovered and used.

It was originally used heavily by the food industry that could see the value of a thin wrapper material and it helped to improve food hygiene by creating a thin but effective shield around food, unlike paper which had previously been used which was not waterproof.

It was then used on the first round the world cable, as it versatility was discovered and was also used in the second world war in radar.

However, it took until the 1950s for the plastic to be used for shopping bags in newly opened supermarkets. The ready availability of many foods at once meant that many customers required more bags than usual to carry their food home in and the disposable plastic bag became ubiquitous.

Despite attracting the ire of environmentalists, some manufacturers have defended the use of the polythene plastic bag due to the low level of energy that goes into manufacture.

Philip Law, a director at the British Plastics Federation, said of plastic bags: "If you're going to have a bag, you're much better having a polyethylene bag than any other material because of the amount of energy that goes into their manufacture; which is minimal. And they can be recycled. It's not the fault of the product that things are dumped in large quantities at sea." in the Independent newspaper.

By martinvale, Sep 29 2015 01:11PM

When you put in your next order of vybak be pleased that there may be ways to produce plastics more sustainably in the future.

In an unusual development, wastewater treatment plants are being used to recover a chemical called Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) – an intermediate material used to produce bioplastics.

As the intermediate product is sourced from a bio available source and is biodegradable it offers a sustainable alternative to petrol based plastics. PHA is similar to polypropylene which is used to make packaging and carpets as well as other plastic products.

Petrol based plastics are also not biodegradable, and though many are recyclable this is often a complex and expensive process that results in lower quality plastics at the end of the process.

The chemical is being extracted from wastewater treatment plants in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

There are some challenges to content with however, for example, petrol based plastics are cheap, particularly at the moment due to falling oil prices. This means that PHA will have to prove price competitiveness before it can be adopted by the mainstream industry.

The price competitiveness of the product would also depend on the amount that could be produced. “At present we estimate that a plant with a capacity of 5,000 t PHA/y will be commercially viable”, said Jacob Bruus, Executive VP of Veolia Water Technologies AB who are running the research said in Circulate News.

Researchers are looking at improving the amounts of PHA that can be extracted from the wastewater by using bacteria that can concentrate the wastewater to become a PHA rich biomass that the substance can be extracted from.